While roving about the city to assess how involved local collegians are in the commemoration of Katrina, I found that many students are simply “Katrina’ed-out.”
“I don’t know if it’s 2005 or 2007 because you can’t tell the difference in some places," said Quentin Chevalier, a pharmacy student at Xavier University. "If you walk down some streets, it looks like Katrina happened yesterday."
Some students said they feel that regardless of how slow progress is after Katrina, it's important to remember what happened to New Orleans two years ago.
One collegian at an area school, who wished to remain anonymous, said she was trying to get her professors to cancel classes this Wednesday so students could take part in the events happening across the city.
Meanwhile, Autrail Manning said he was going to commemorate the event by acknowledging the losses many suffered during and after Hurricane Katrina.
“I lived on the Westbank (of New Orleans) so my home only suffered wind damage,” said Manning a sophomore at Dillard University. “But I understand that some people lost everything, so I plan to take a ride through the 9th ward and remember them.”
Faren Pitts, also a Dillard student, said she plans to commemorate the anniversary by attending the public policy forum being hosted by the university.
“Other than that, I’ll probably purchase a Katrina Bell to ring on (the anniversary),” Pitts said.
The ceremonial bells, which will be rung throughout the city on August 29th, signify the levee breaches that occurred throughout the city. Bells will ring for two minutes starting at 9:38 a.m. as city officials lay wreaths throughout the city.
